


The Red Daughter

by Zandrammas



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:35:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23532421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zandrammas/pseuds/Zandrammas
Summary: Young Eleni of the desert tribe embarks on a journey to save her family from a mysterious beast. Along the way she uncovers secrets about her past and is plagued by nightmares of a man with golden eyes. When her world is turned upside down by the biggest secret of all, will she still have the strength to defeat the beast?





	1. Trial

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little backstory/mini adventure for my OC Eleni. One of the characters mentioned named Kaliel is an OC owned by a friend, but other than that all characters are mine. I hope you read and enjoy!

**I.**

The girl was left here three days ago by her tribe, surrounded by nothing but the unmoving sand. It is tribe tradition for a cub to undertake the Trials at the age of 16, and thus in able for her to rejoin her family.. she must survive the desert for an entire week. Armed with the teachings of the Elder and an ornate double sided spear given to her by the Eldest, her mother, she was left to survive alone in the endless dunes.

  
This was no simple task. The immense heat of the terrain would pour into ones veins as if pumped through a hypodermic needle. It swirled in a person's brains, inducing them into sleepy stupidity and no matter how much came in, none of it seemed to escape. The air itself was like breathing liquid fire and despite wearing sandals, her fragile ankles have started to blister. With no water to speak of, the heat would continue to gnaw at her until life left her bones.

  
Yet for all her aches, pains and heatstroke, she journeyed on through the desolate sea of never ending sand. Standing in the shade of a sparkly dune, she closed her salt covered eyes and the thought back to her mother's words before the Trial.

  
The sweet smell of jasmine lingers in the air so that when she crosses the threshold it's like a shot of adrenaline right to her heart. Silence crashes all around her. Even the palm trees in the Oasis have ceased their rustling from the night's cool breeze. That is when Xaelia steps out from behind the rice-paper room divider in a fluttering azure skirt and silver breastplate, tanned hands clasped around the spear of Sekhmet. She smiles at her daughter and steps nearer, the jasmine now becoming so heady it's almost poison.

  
Kneeling down, she sets her weapon upon a nearby ornate pillow before laying a hand on the girls lap. "For a long time I could not get pregnant, did you know? The healer had believed I was infertile." She spoke with a sadness laced in her tone, sphene eyes staring up into her child's own yellow gaze. "I had prayed to Bastet for three days and nights, without food and water. Until at last I found that I was pregnant. It was truly a miracle, when you were born. You were screaming when you first arrived, and that is when I knew that fire ran through your veins." She murmured wistfully, one hand reaching up to run her long fingers through her daughters thick, burgundy locks.  
"I know you are scared of the Trial, but you are strong. You are blessed by Bastet, a true sister of blood and fire. I believe you will be the greatest warrior of us all, and that you will survive this test." Letting go of her daughters hair, she pulled her in close for a loving embrace. "My beloved Eleni... Do whatever you must to survive and know that Bastet watches over you."

  
The memory brought a slight smile to Eleni's cracked lips as she watched the horizon, clutching the spear of Sekhmet close to her chest. "I'll make you proud, mother." She promised in the form of a whisper, watching as twilight descended upon the horizon.

  
**Four days later...**

  
The desert hated her. She had been here four days without water, food or fire and she's getting steadily weaker. Death's hungry maw seeks her everywhere. There's no respite from it. The heat might be addling her brain but the girl is starting to think the desert suffers from schizophrenia. By day, the heat is like standing in front of a fiery dragon and by night, the cold is like being suspended from a cryogenics chamber. It's full and spiteful wrath bears down on you constantly. It's a bi-polar mix of heat and cold. There is no respite and no mercy.

  
The cancerous sun, the cankerous heat and the cantankerous cold are heart-haunting. Everything in this God-forsaken place is either wicked or warped or blasted or burned. Who ever heard of an environment with such devilish names living in it? The flora has chain fruit and ironwood listed in its catalogue of heartless plants. The fauna has vultures circling over you by day and vampire bats dive-bombing you at night. There is no siren call for the sea here. There is a vast, mournful pan of emptiness where anything sentient resents anything else that's alive. Hell's sauna is what she will call it. Every sun-scoured scrap of fauna has barbs, hooks or thorns. They want to rip and rend you, snag and splinter you. Every sun-seared excuse for an animal has poison, paw or claw. They're not as discriminating. They just want to eat you. The prince of darkness himself could not conjure up such malignant sorcery, a blasphemous buffet, a grotesque life.

  
Having spent most of her life in the Oasis, Eleni was not truly prepared for just how deceptively evil the desert truly was. Her Sisters may have taught her the skills of a warrior, but they had neglected their teachings in how to survive a desert such as this. But she had a promise to keep, and no matter how hard the sun tried to break her down, she would not surrender to its rays. She will not become another blistered corpse to be buried in the sand. Eleni would fight until her last breath to return to the tribe, no matter the cost.

  
**Six days later...**

  
A week has passed and the girl could feel herself dying. She had stayed hungry, as she was taught, but she had run out of two days ago and there was no cacti to glean water from in sight. She was utterly and truly alone, cradled in a haven of salt. She feels as though she's been stabbed by a million sun-spears and scraped by sandpaper. Her tongue is cloven to the roof of her mouth. It's like there's a dry, leathery in-sole wagging away at the back of her throat. Her throat itself has the sensation that a reticulated python is trying to squeeze the life out of it. Even her eyes feel like they've melted into the back of her mind, making everything seem mira-gelike. Sand is her enemy, she reminds herself. At this very moment it burns her back through her thin tunic, it stings her eyes and acts as a surrogate for pain because nothing else can fill her thoughts. A nebula of wavy radiation surrounds her until she starts believing that its one big field of itit she's going through. Eleni has even reached the point where she wished it was night, when mercury screams in agony as it plummets to its nadir. It's as cold as a ghoul's soul. Her body would tremble feverishly and her teeth would rattle as the numbness spreads. A slow, yet unfeeling death. Wasted salty tears slowly trickle down her sunburnt cheeks at that thought. Of dying out here alone, forgotten and not growing into the woman she was meant to be. Her tribe would be so disappointed.

  
Eventually, an overwhelming desire to give up and go to sleep forever overtakes Eleni. She can feel her will to live being steadily sapped away, and thus she closes her eyes.

  
Distant voices echoed all around the girl. It's cruel enough she has to die but now she has to suffer through the illusion that her Sisters are near?

  
"Eldest, she is over here!" A woman called, her voice sounding strangely familiar.

  
"Eleni!" A second woman cried out, rushing to kneel beside the broken girl half buried in the sand.

  
"M-mother?" Eleni all but whispered, the layer of salt on her eyelids too thick for her to open them. "I-is it over? Have I passed?"

  
A pair of hands lovingly stroke the sand away from her cheeks before pulling her close, tears falling like soft kisses against her blistered brow. "Yes. You're a Lioness now.. My strong girl, your advanced training will begin when your better. For now, rest..."

  
Thus the girl drifted off into slumber, surrounded by the very women she wanted to get back to. 

  
But what she or they didn't know.. was that her trial had only just begun.


	2. Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Years have passed since the trial and Eleni receives a strange dream.

**II.**

Spring is glee, even within the Oasis that the tribe of Ket'ejha inhabit. It is a welcome respite from the burning sands, a place to protect and call home. Spring is a fizzy tonic here, like a slowly overflowing bottle of bubbling joy. It tattoos it's colours onto the land, banishing the remnants of sun-streaked salt. The blessed dew is bespangled on the ground. Like wizard dust, it burns the sand into oblivion. All manner of buds blossom, trees thrive and grass grows. The oasis cauterizes, with a surgical precision, the gaping wounds of infinite nothingness in the desert.

  
However the young woman known as Eleni resides in a different world altogether. A place of darkness and malice, where her dreams are shadowed by the inky pool of madness. Lost in a nightmare of what is to come, she writhes in her sleep as if fighting against invisible demonic forces.

_Every child in the tribe had laughed at any monsters whom dare tread the divine ground of the oasis. For they were quick to meet the spear of any Lioness in its path._   
_Now the tribe itself was gone, swept away as if by some unseen hand. Their sanctuary had become a grotesque haunt, offensive to eye, ear and nostril. No longer was the air crystal clear but hot and stale, burning Eleni's lungs like the fumes from brimstone. The floor of the tribal forest belched up constant waves of foul and rancid odours that smelt like sickly excrement. All the freewheeling flotsam of the trees gathered there in blasted mounds of steaming mulch. The scorch of the sun didn't cause this. Only an occasional, listless ligament of light would pin-prick through the dense foliage. It was a constipated beam of hopelessness, limply flickering. It had all the cheerless comfort of a dying candle flame._

  
_That is when she saw it, hidden amongst the piles of shredded flesh that she almost mistook for blood-red foliage. It was human, she saw, or had been. But the body had been ripped apart and sewn together again with most of its pieces either missing or twisted and blackened as if in a furnace. There was an eye, gleaming at her, and the ladder of a spine, the vertebrae stripped of muscle. What little flesh it owned was hopelessly corrupted. Yet live it did. Its eye, despite the rot it was rooted in, scanned her trembling form every inch, up and down._

  
_"M-mother?" Eleni choked, tasting salt on her tongue as it slid down her pale cheeks. The creature moaned in response; maggots, roaches and creepy bugs oozing from it's lips. It reached out with its rotten fingers and grasped the girl's ankle, staring up at her with pleading eyes._

  
_"The monsters found us child," it gurgled, "we thought we were strong enough to fight them off.. but we were misguided.." Eleni kneeled down beside the husk of her mother, the stench of putrid flesh burning her nostrils. With a tentative hand she caressed her kin's mushy, decayed cheek._   
_"What must I do to make sure this never happens?" She whispered._

_"Find and kill the creature that hunts us. Rend flesh from bone, drown him in his own blood. Do this and we are saved..." It murmured with one eye set upon Eleni, tightening its grip on her ankle. "But beware.. you cannot defeat him alone.. For he wears a seductive mask that lures many to their fate. To defeat him you must die."_

An ominous boom startled Eleni out of her abysmal nightmare. Her placid cheeks were wet and her shaking body was bathed in a cold sweat. The sheets were twisted around her limbs, probably because she was thrashing in her sleep. Her heart pounded against her ribs. Trembling fingers ran through her tangled locks of deepest scarlet, the tendrils damp against her crown as she fought to regain her sanity.

  
Bone-weary and riddled with fear, she rose on shaky legs and crossed the room towards the window frame. The moon's delicate light cast Eleni a-flame with silver, illuminating the naked figure of a woman that was no longer a child. Her Amazonian form of lush caramel complexion paled in the cascading moonbeams, revealing taut and defined muscles that betrayed years of training in battle. While still retaining feminine curves, there was no longer an ounce of soft skin upon her.

  
Even before she awoke, she had made up her mind to find this beast her mother's corpse spoke of. After witnessing the possible destruction of her tribe, she was overcome with a sense of protectiveness. Perhaps it was Bastet whom fueled such a primal urge, Eleni did not know. All she knew was that she had to leave.. tonight, while everyone else remained in slumber.

  
With a steely resolve she padded barefoot to her chest of personal items. Forgoing armor, she adorned a cropped shirt of fitted ebony with subtle ruby engravings along the hemline that dove into her bosom. Next came charcoal leather leggings that hugged her form, along with a belt of crimson hue and inky boots. After wrapping her arms with strips of black leather and covering half her face with an equally dark mask, she strapped two curved daggers to her hips and the Spear of Sekhmet against her back. In the shadow of night she slipped out into the forest unseen, a pack of essentials flung over her shoulder.

  
Even with all her confidence, Eleni could hear a distant caterwauling sound in her mind, somewhere between a tortured whine and a despairing screech. The tormented screams of the victims had seared her soul. Something screeched at her to turn back, yet until the creature fell she would be kinless and kith-less. She would return to the fiery forge of violence she had been smelted in when she was a child.

  
Eleni was no longer afraid. The blood-lust was upon her, a familiar feeling. It would be gory work tonight, silent and bloody until her chosen prey was found. She eased her way through the small village, a foe far more deadly than the hemlock and wolfsbane her boots stepped over.


	3. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months into her journey, Eleni discovers a temple..

**III.**

Four moons have passed since the young Lioness left her tribe to hunt down her living nightmare. The vision still plagued her every thought, as did the image of her mother lying in a grotesque pile of body parts as the sickly stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed her senses. Rather than scare her, the vision seemed to awaken some previously unknown strength that urged her forward in her hunt.

  
To be entirely honest though, she knew not where the beast lurked and simply followed the slippery tendrils of the vision to guide her footsteps. Eleni's trudge through the endless dunes of the desert lasted for days, perhaps weeks--time was hard to keep track of through the gnawing hunger in her belly. However after what seemed like centuries, the desert gave way to a blood-red canyon littered with monsters, all gathering to drink from a nearby spring. It was there that her hunger was finally satisfied after bringing down a particularly volatile creature with her spear before stripping it of all its meat and storing it to dry in her pack.

  
Two moons have passed since then and the jerky she had stored has kept her sustained through her trek through the winding bloodstone canyon.

  
"I wonder if all this time I have been wandering in circles, or if this place is truly never ending." She mutters to herself, slightly annoyed after having seen nothing but scarlet rock for weeks. The canyon path before her is narrow and uncivilized. Plants grow in every which way, leaving minimal room for the path itself. The dirt road snaked around ancient, withering trees. There is a beauty to it--raw and barren--even with the grainy wind, yet amid the mosquito swarm no joy was felt. The bugs were as large as Eleni's hand, and wanted nothing more than to suck the life out from the girl's tanned flesh.

  
Stepping up onto the sand strewn rock, the wind whipped, howling, pushing her body toward the edge and the canyon floor ten thousand feet below. Ribbon-like fissures lined the gorge with their wind-carved texture, not far off a waterfall tumbled, strikingly white in the desert light. The writhing liquid lay upon the canyon floor, passing over minerals and stones--a deep, meandering river fed by tributaries.

  
Nestled within the side of the gorge walls of volcano-red rock is a structure of pure gold, of which shimmered despite being under layers of grime and dust. Illuminated by the sun’s deathly rays, it appears otherworldly amongst the water and stone. Whatever it was centuries ago, it was no more. Even from a distance, Eleni could see that no one had stepped inside the building for nary a century or more. Meaning it would make a perfect place to camp before night strikes the horizon.  
With natural feline grace, the Lioness expertly navigated her slim form down the sheer canyon cliffs and into the gorge below. Wiping the sweat and dirt off her glistening brow, she tentatively made her way into the golden structure with her fingers tightly gripping her spear.

  
The temple is deserted. A diffuse of bluish light beams through the pillared alley, which makes an eerie contrast with the white halo beaming from the brass sculpture on the central altar. The fragrance of lavender incense lingers whilst Eleni stiffens upon hearing the sound of chimes in the distance. Something spiritual and alien lingers here, forcing Eleni’s old consciousness to retreat into the abyss of her subconscious mind.

  
This was not a world of fantasy, everything Eleni could see around her was so real, so material, so substantial and yet so impenetrable. The atmosphere was now becoming dense and heavy, as if some unseen hand was wrapped around her throat. Gazing up at the sculpture, the girl’s sunlit gaze widens with wonder when she notices sharp, feline eyes embedded in ebony gazed back at her. Emeralds, rubies and sapphires decorated the crown the sculpture wore, propped upon the head of a cat with a humanoid body.

  
"Bastet!" Eleni cried out suddenly, letting her spear drop to the floor before falling onto her dirty knees and bowering her head low to the floor. "Forgive me Mother for intruding on your holy sanctuary."

  
"You are not at fault, child." A voice replied.

  
With a startled cry, the girl shot to her feet only to find that she could will her legs to flee in terror. Glancing up, the emerald spheres of the Bastet statue stared lovingly down at her. 

“This is your sanctuary as much as it is mine, Eleni the Red Daughter. I have waited thousands of years for you to come here and speak with me.” It whispered soothingly, “I have guided you since you were but a babe and at last you have come to your Mother.”

Bewildered, the Lioness could not form a reply and thus she simply gaped at the statue. Bronze and ebony began to bend and move upon the altar, until the goddess herself climbed down and stood before the trembling form of her descendent. Lithe metal fingers reached out to lightly run through the vivid scarlet locks that cascaded down Eleni’s shoulders before coming to cup the girl’s cheek. 

“Your hair reminds me of him,” it says almost absently, “As does the fire in your heart. Oh Eleni.. You are far more powerful than you could ever comprehend. The gift of the phoenix lies dormant in her bones, and once awakened.. You could bring both peace and destruction to this world.”

“I care not for power Mother, only to hunt the beast which is destined to destroy my tribe.” The Lioness finally replies, yet its words lingered in the back of her mind. This ‘gift’ can wait until her spear is embedded inside her prey’s skull.

“Ah yes… destroy the creature you will. But that is not the extent of your destiny. You must go on another journey after you have slayed your nightmare, one that will take you high into the mountains where lush forests flourish and shadowy beings dwell.”

“What is the purpose of such a journey?” Eleni inquires fearfully.

“You are to find the boy with a wolfen namesake, and aid him to the best of your ability. Only together will you overcome death and birth; only at his side will you and he be able to change reality. That is your fate, my Lioness.. Take comfort in the knowledge that you do not carry this burden alone, and that I am watching over you.”

The girl took no comfort in that knowledge whatsoever and was once again filled with the urge to flee. Destiny? Fate? A BOY? So much for going back to the tribe to live out her days in luxury and grow fat off of tasty monster jerky. 

“If that is your wish Mother, I will look for him after my hunt has ended.” 

“Good, good..” The statue nods before turning and placing herself back upon the altar. “Now sleep and bathe in my blessed waters, destiny shall greet you when the morning rises.”

With those parting words Bastet returned to her celestial domain, leaving Eleni alone inside the temple. 


	4. Lineage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eleni discovers a terrible secret..

**IV.**

Days have passed since Eleni’s peculiar meeting with Bastet. The canyon of flowing rivers and rich, ruby minerals was long since left behind, and now she found herself upon a flat expanse of sunset-orange rock. In the distance, a rather abrupt outcropping of vegetation and forestry sprouted from the devastation. It seemed impossible that such greenery would be found in this wasteland, yet the girl’s enhanced sight did not lie, nor was it a trick of the moon.

She gritted her teeth as she trudged into the night, making her way toward the expanding jungle boundary. She paused to rest near a moonlit boulder and took out her waterskin to drink while she listened to the vast starlit darkness. She could sense the vibrating power of the nearby forest and could hear the inevitable sounds of cracking, straining branches, writhing vines, stirring leaves. Combined, it sounded like evil laughter.

In the darkness, it observed her.

Feeling the hairs tingle on the back of her neck, she stepped away from the boulder, alert, sniffing the air. Eleni whirled around and peered above to see nothing but the gentle swish of copper dust, dancing with the evening breeze. Rattled, the Lioness took another swig of water and made her way onward, hoping against hope that it was just her imagination.

The moon had set, and the night held its breath while waiting for the dawn. When Eleni finally met the edge of the insidious jungle, the demarcation was abrupt, with desolation and sand on one side and a madness of foliage on the other. She could smell the leaves and the resinous wood, the potent aromas of wild vegetation.

Hidden, it watched.

Hastily grabbing the dagger clipped to her belt and pushing the button inlaid within the hilt, the blade expanded to become a fearsome golden spear. Eleni raised it, facing the primeval forest, secretly hoping she would not have to go inside and investigate. The twitching branches and gnarled, spasming vines unsettled her, but she shored up her courage.

“Step into the light and face me!” She challenged, dandelion hues staring menacingly into the dark.

Trees groaned and branches snapped as the largest scorpion Eleni had ever seen burst from the underbrush. It was ten feet tall and appeared more black than the night sky. Its pincers were raised, yet held in toward his head, each inky claw had a swollen bulb right behind the long serrated edges, ugly and menacing. Yet for all the display with its pincers, it was the curling tail that scared her the most. A pinch would be painful, if not deadly if she drew too close.

It’s beady eyes watched Eleni as she let out a battle cry and leapt into the air, aiming to drive her spear into the beasts thick cranium, but it merely knocked her to the ground with one of its giant claws, nearly crushing her. She felt her ribs crack from the impact. Blood burst inside her. Pain exploded in her mind. Eleni rolled on the dusty sand, listening to the scorpions movements and ignoring the ache of her broken ribs.

Yet for all her training and experience, she failed to notice a meaty appendage snapping back and slamming hard against her head, stunning her. The young woman reeled and her knees began to buckle. Bleeding from the side of her head, Eleni groaned and dropped her spear with a metallic clatter on the desert floor, hot blood trickling down into her eyes. For good measure, the scorpion lashed its tail out, the sharp spiked tip plunging deep into her chest, digging through flesh and blood. Gouts of crimson sprayed out as she screamed and struggled.

Then the world went black.

In the darkness, a fire began to consume her. It smoldered and wound its cardinal tendrils around the young girls body, the heat searing away the tribal tunic and pants of her home, leaving her naked form to be devoured by the inferno. Eleni could swear she saw a pair of golden eyes—-similar to her own—-peeking out between the fiery curls. Flames washed over her skin, burning away the flesh and sinew, digging deep until even her bones could not withstand the blaze and disintegrated. Yet Eleni felt little pain, only familiar warmth.

She controlled the fire. It did not control her.

The Lioness awoke with a start. Her mind screamed out as acrid pain shot through her left arm and chest, accompanied by the distinct smell of burning flesh. Her eyelids were still sticky with blood when she opened them and frantically removed the unfamiliar furs atop her body, gasping at the sight of her trembling arm. A scarlet dragon wove itself around Eleni’s left toned bicep and spread its wings across her shoulder blades, its head with maw stretched wide rested just below her collar bone. Her tanned skin sizzled where the great beast lay, the agony of its presence springing tears in the girl’s eyes. However as quickly as it started, the pain faded until there was nothing left but this new, mysterious tattoo.

Eleni felt drained as she focused her blurry gaze upon her surroundings instead, noticing that she was within an unknown cave. ‘How did I end up here?’ She thought, briefly admiring the stalagmites that appeared to be made of rounded, irregular, hollow cones which concave upwards. Within the centre of the cave a roaring campfire bathed the grey walls with tangerine light, illuminating the figure of a woman.

The woman seemed to know that Eleni had awoken, for with a grunt she hauled herself off the dusty floor before kneeling down beside the girl. She was pretty, with a rounded face, freckled cheeks, emerald green eyes and hair like liquid copper that spilled over a generous bosom. Her clothes were like nothing Eleni had ever seen for they were decorated with intricate knots along the hem, bodice and sleeves.

“W-who are you?” The Lioness croaked, throat raw from screaming in pain only hours ago.

“ I am your mother.. your true mother ,” the woman murmured softly, sorrow clouding her gentle features.

“ And there is much I must tell you. ”

Eleni couldn’t believe her ears. She did not know this strange woman, despite feeling as though they had met before. Perhaps in a dream long ago.

“ You may call me Aine, if you so choose. Do you feel any pain? ” ‘Aine’ inquired, gesturing the girl’s chest. Peering down, Eleni noticed that crusted blood darkened her white tunic yet there was no wound where the scorpions stinger had ran her through.

“H-how? I should be dead?”

“ Sweet child, you were .” Her so-called-mother responded, her emerald gaze distant as she stared down at the shocked girl. “ You have been reincarnated, though by your power and not my own. That tattoo upon your arm marks your first reincarnation and the awakening of dormant abilities. Ones that I had originally thought repressed. ”

The Lioness’ memory briefly flashed to the pair of sunlit eyes that watched her through the hungry flames. Eleni knew that Aine spoke the truth, though she still did not trust her. She could feel something within her ever since she woke.. something that burned with violent inferno. It pulsed overwhelming heat throughout her body, as if she is her own sauna.

"So tell me, if you are truly my mother.. who is my father?”

Fear flashed through Aine’s eyes before resignation took its place. One of her trembling fingers wove itself with a strand of Eleni’s crimson hair.

“ Your father has many names and has lived many lives. I met him in one of those lives.. where he was cruel, brutal even. Every time I thought he would never return, he’d come back and take all his violence and anger out on me. I did not love him, nor did he love me. I was merely a tool used to satisfy him, whether I wanted it or not. I hated that man—that thing with every bone in my body.”

“But what is his name?” Eleni inquired, unsure of what to make of her story, or anything she says for that matter. It was all surreal.. this beautiful, powerful woman was her mother? How strong was her father to torture Aine so?

“ The Flame of War, the Eldest Fenikkusu,  Kaliel . ” The Lioness’ golden spheres widened with shock. His name is forbidden from being spoken aloud within the tribe, for it is said that he brought great ruin to the world. All within the desert and beyond are of his blood, though only through very distant ancestors. She knew little about the man, the god. Only stories that have been passed through hundreds of generations.

Aine’s melancholic voice interrupted her thoughts,  “I was afraid that if he knew I was pregnant with you.. he’d kill us both. So I ran and hid within the faerie kingdom, using my abilities of fertility and growth to delay your birth as long as possible. Thousands of years passed on your world before I was completely sure that he was gone and finally released you into the world. Still, I was terrified he’d return and find you so I hid you here, amongst your own kin, right under his nose. I made the Eldest of your tribe swear to silence before giving you to her, praying that she would protect you..

But I failed. His flame has awoken inside you and ate through the magic defenses I planted inside your body.”

This was too much to bear. For twenty years Eleni had thought herself nothing more than a daughter of Bastet, born to bring glory for her tribe and defend it against the insidious scorpions that plague the desert. Knowing that her blood is far greater, and her destiny far more complex turned her world upside down. She now knew that Aine spoke the truth and that she is her mother, and Kal.. her father. The Lioness was unsure of how she felt about that.

Arwin.

For a moment, she wished her mentor were there to comfort her. Though she doubted he would oblige. Perhaps he knew more about her father and the newfound abilities she possesses. But her desert tribe was months away and she could not spare the time to see him without defeating the Scorpion King first. Still, the mere thought of him banished some of the anxiety building within her.

Silence had fallen within the cave. Aine seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, though her fingers were still entwined in Eleni’s bloody locks.

“I must leave. Even with him gone, I am not safe within this mortal realm. My faery realm calls to me, though it lay galaxies away. I want you to know dear Eleni that I have loved you and will always love you. It is not only Kals gifts that you harbor. But mine as well.”

Though it saddens her to watch her mother leave, Eleni had a mission to complete. Before Aine could depart she placed her palm on Eleni’s rosy cheek and rose to press her lips against her daughter’s forehead.

Tears gathered in the Lioness’ eyes before streaking down blood and soot covered skin.

After a moment of murmured goodbyes, Aine’s matronly form began to fade into the blackness of the cave. In that lonely dark Eleni heard her mother’s voice, her words causing the young girl to tremble.

“I have held you back for too long. In order to defeat the Scorpion King you must master the abilities that your father has given you. Unleash the phoenix within you.. or all you know and love will  perish .”


	5. Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An end is only a beginning.

V.

She felt a raindrop fall against her bronze skin, followed by several others. The cave she inhabited for a few days after being wounded by the scorpion was only two hours journey away, yet the Lioness had little time to waste and trudged onward. The shock and anger upon meeting her mother still lingered within the cracks of her heart, the secret revealed of her blood a heavy weight of fear and dread. Eleni wanted nothing more than to find this man, whom she'd only heard stories of from the tribe elders, and slit his throat.

She was left in a sort of stupor since leaving the shimmering visage of her mother in that damned cave, and the long starved demons of her soul hungered for blood. She did not truly know much else about Kaliel other than what she had heard... and she did not wish to know more. In her eyes he is a parasite that forced her mother to abandon her, who cursed this world that was made in his very own image. He deserves nothing but her ire and contempt.

Luckily she is but mere hours from the Oasis of Shadow, and her task would soon be fulfilled. The creature promised to destroy her people would be turned to ash before her feet and the Lioness would then be free to pursue her vengeance.

The desert at twilight was a vast undulating sea, punctuated by the shadowy silhouettes of cactus, like great ghost ships upon sandy waves. Briefly pausing her stride, Eleni observes the remaining constellations uncovered from the clouds. The moon hung full and hazy beneath an eclipse of blazing stars, allowing her to see the tops of silvery blue dunes.

She nearly laughs at the absurdity of rainfall in a desert, her slim body becoming a fountain for the incoming droplets, the water making her eyelids heavy. The tunic beneath her chestnut leather armor is soaked, along with her long, scarlet mane that she fashioned into a single braid down her back. She closes her liquid gold eyes for a moment, a rattled sigh passing through her parted lips, causing her breath to fog up in front of her, obscuring her vision as she took in the feeling of wet, bruised skin.

The calm but lasted a moment before a vicious flame violently lashed out within her, overtaking her defenses and causing the cacti around her to erupt with blazing fire. A surprised cry left her as she jumped back, quickly tampering down the sudden burst of rage. Yet even the heavy rainfall did little to diminish the golden flames that turned the cacti into heaps of black ash.

Horrified, the young girl stared down at her palms with wide eyes. "Did I just do that? How?" Her voice is a mere whisper amongst the plummeting drops.

Fire abilities are not new to the tribes. Very few can properly wield and summon fire, and even then they were extremely mild in comparison to what she had just done. If she lost control, Eleni knew she could set the entire desert ablaze with her bottled up fury. Such powers would bring nothing but destruction to her tribe. Combined with her volatile temper, overwhelming sorrow and fury, the Lioness knew she could not return to her tribe unless she learned how to wield such power. Else her own tribesisters would cast her out in fear. 

Vibrant purple eyes came to mind. Perhaps there is one who would help her back home.

Keeping a firm hold of her spiraling emotions, Eleni knew she would have to fight to keep her fire in check when she faced the creature. Else she might be the one swallowed up in flames.

**_Five hours later.._ **

The Oasis of Shadow stood before her.

The hills lay charcoal under the sallow moon, feeble rays struggling to shine through the broken layer of cloud. On one peak is a fortress overlooking the valley below, no more than a barely discernible silhouette against the inky sky. It's broken walls of onyx stone shone a striking white when the moon cast its light upon it, the shadows of massive beasts the only blemish upon pristine stone.

The rain had halted a few hours ago, yet it left behind great amounts of mud in its wake. Upon her journey she had stopped beside a massive boulder that served as an entrance into the valley and took an hours slumber whilst silently clinging to Sekhmet. The storm had left her feeling drained and every step left her more weary than the last from the weight of water-drenched traveling clothes. Yet she did not make a fire, for fear of alerting the enemy to her close proximity.

However her sleep was restless, dreams slamming into her mind with the vicious power of a giant charge. Dark dreams, dreams of her family and tribe. Her mother, fighting against the brutal assault of her father as he claimed her. Her Eldest, watching as the entire tribe is butchered in front of her before a man with red hair sets her body ablaze. Of her tribe-sister Lapis, being mercilessly tortured by a faceless creature with glittering black eyes. Their pained screams calling to Eleni, berating her for not being there. For not protecting them.

When she awoke with a start, she quickly packed her things and left the safety of the rock formation. Eleni could not bring herself to ponder over such dreams, fearful that they would rekindle the fire she struggled to control.

Amidst the velvet dark, the moon no longer hung above the valley. It was a rather discomforting thought, given that it would be midday. The valley itself seemed to be plunged in an eternal darkness, seeping through the joints of those dwelt within. The blackness formed from some primeval hatred, and the collective despair of all those it's taken before. Using the one gift she could control with ease, her golden orbs glittered in the shadows as she nimbly traversed the path leading to the fortress. Even in total pitch, her eyes could see every rock and decayed tree with utmost precision.

The eerie silence that accompanied the dead scenery broke abruptly with the scratching of claws against stone. As quick as lightening, the Lioness pressed her back against the jagged onyx that lined the path. Peering around the corner, she nearly let out a loud gasp as the sounds source is revealed. Groups of heavily armored scorpions--more than she had ever seen before--patrolled the entrance. Eleni briefly considered a stealthy approach and the possibility of scaling the wall. Yet even if she remained undetected by the hulking beasts, there were no visible footholds along the broken walls. The rock was simply too slippery, even for her lean body to navigate.

No, there is only one way to enter.

Dropping her pack, Eleni wrapped her hands around Sekhmet's glittering shaft. Her eyelids fluttered shut as her body tensed, mentally preparing herself for assault against the mass of scorpions. Her inner flame struggled against the hold she placed upon it, begging to be unleashed from its prison. Yet Eleni refused to use the gift, afraid that it would turn her to ash alongside the beasts if released.

Gritting her teeth, she leapt out from the corner she hid behind and barreled towards the hulking scorpions. Spinning Sekhmet with practiced grace, her golden spear sliced open the first scorpion with barely controlled ferocity.

A group of giant scorpions in glittering black armor charged at Eleni, she took down one but the others tackled her to the ground. Thrashing at her neck, the scorpions scratched and crawled her. Eleni wrestled her spear free, pushing it through the abdomen of a scorpion trying to chop her nose off with giant pincers. Then using the golden shaft to brace against three other beasts pushing against her. Both palms gripped the shaft, fingers dangerously close to the scorpions snapping claws. She is forced deeper into the mud she laid in, much seeping into her hair and onto her face.

A scorpion swung at her with its poison-tipped tail, Eleni instinctively dodged the assault by a hair before rolling to the side. She barely had time to turn around before the scorpion hit her square in the chest with its pincer and sent her sprawling. Catching her bearings, she lashed out with Sekhmet--but the scorpion was agile, dodging her spear. Spinning, a pincer slashed alongside Eleni’s chest, leaving a shallow but long gash.

The Lioness heaved herself to her feet, running her hand over her wound. Her chest burned from pain, blood soaking her tunic and leathers.

“Get back in the fight, girl!” A voice boomed within her mind.

Her hand wavered as she retrieved Sekhmet, fingers clenched tightly around the weapon.

Steeling herself, she charged.

Eleni was in the middle of the melee, Sekhmet whetting a taste for scorpion blood. The beast swung its pincers wildly at her, but the Lioness glided fluidly through the sand. Dodging the blow and delivering her own, splattering inky blood as she severed its leg with the spear. Her leathers were coated in blood, both her own and that of her assailants. The wound she had sustained earlier burned against her chest, but Eleni ignored it. Hacking and slashing like a dancer. A one woman army. She stabbed another scorpion through the middle, failing to notice a shadow creeping up behind her.

Fighting with all that was left of her might, Eleni pushed her way into the fortress. Trembling with fatigue, she clutched her spear to her heaving chest whilst preparing her small body for another barrage of attacks.

Yet none came.

The giant scorpions dispersed into the darkness, the symphony of their clicking mandibles fading. Suddenly, as if by magic, the various torches that lined the hall surged with blue flame, bathing the inner sanctum in azure light. Eleni squinted, her eyes attempting to adjust to the abrupt change. The cold air wrapped around her like a heavy coat of chain mail as she stumbled further into the fortress. The acrid scent of blood and decay stings her nostrils as she approaches a giant throne at the back of the chamber.

Tremendous braziers hanging from each of the ten granite columns holding up the old structure engulf the throne in pale ocean-blue. The seat itself is made up of onyx and appears as though hewn from the mountain itself, with towering pillars of jagged rock reaching high into the ceiling. No cushion nor intricate carvings of any kind decorated it, yet it was intimidating all the same.

"My, my.. what do we have here?"

A booming voice thundered throughout the chamber, causing Eleni to freeze mid-stride. Swiveling around, she aimed the point of Sekhmet towards the encroaching abyss. Watching in mingled horror and anticipation, a monster rises from the void to meet her.

The monster she had traveled years to slay faced her now and Eleni had the overwhelming urge to flee. He is an abomination, a mix-breed of both scorpion and man. His human half was made up of hard, tattooed flesh. The ink traveled down his tanned shoulders and chest, reaching from his toned abdominals to his protruding hips that held a slight dusting of hair. The creatures face is almost beautiful with defined cheekbones, full lips and caramel skin. A braided mane of ebony trailed down between broad shoulders, loose wisps framing a pair of penetrating golden eyes much like her own.

Yet those were the only things remotely human about him. Attached to each arm are a pair of massive claws that could snap ones body in half. Below his hips is the long form of a scorpion with six pairs of armored insect-like legs attached to a curled tail with a poisoned tip.

"I have come to stop you from murdering my tribe!" The woman shouted back, straightening herself despite the sharp pain along her ribs.

The beast barely raised a brow before bursting into dark laughter. "You may try. Though I have no intention of harming your kin. Not since your birth."

"My birth? What does that have to do with anything, foul demon!" She snarled, tension gathering in her aching muscles. Eleni could feel the rage burning low, reawakening the flame that ever so hungered for blood.

"Child, you wound me. This 'demon' is just one of many forms I am able to conjure. I came to this desert, this world, a very long time ago to find you.. yet you were not born then. You see, your blood belongs to one of the most powerful beings in this universe and upon your conception many like myself desired to feast upon your mother.."

The beast gave her no time to reply, not that she wished to. The mention of her mother forced the Lioness to remain mute where she stood, stomach sick with dread.

"I tracked her here shortly after she gave birth to you and handed you over to those daughters of the lioness. I slayed many when I entered that village," he says with a slow smile. "Eventually I came upon you sleeping in your crib. Your Eldest begged me not to take you and offered to make a deal instead. She told me that your blood is much too potent to be devoured and that I must take it another way.. a more intimate way."

"And what is this.. deal?" Eleni choked out while on the verge of tears, teeth clenching.

"In exchange for allowing your tribe to live, you will be married to me. On your 25th nameday when you have fully ripened, your body will be mine to take. Only then will I be able to taste the power of your bloodline without damaging myself."

The lioness gasped, liquid honey eyes instinctively glancing at the tattoo of a scorpion that had been on her thigh since she was a babe. It all made sense. She was to be the tribes sacrifice, and the tattoo she had been told was a mere birthmark is the seal that binds her.

"So you see, you are mine. That mark upon you cannot be removed until after the contract has been fulfilled. You cannot escape your destiny, Eleni." The creature purred almost lovingly, yet the sound only grated on her nerves.

“I would rather die than be yours.” She snarled through clenched teeth, her hands no longer trembling as she clutched Sekhmets golden shaft. The spear glittered in the candlelight as she pointed it towards the foul abomination and took up a familiar warriors stance.

“We shall see.” The King replied.

Eleni shuffled to the side and awaited in attack and possibly, inevitable death. Even at full strength, she knew she has little chance in defeating the beast. Had she learned to master her newfound abilities, she would smite the cackling creature where he stood. But the Lioness would not risk the release of such a terrible flame, for fear of it burning her up as well.

The Scorpion King charged with a mighty cry, pincers snapping. Eleni dodged to the side in one fluid move, the creature quickly turning in her direction. His menacing honeyed gaze is blazing red, hungry and something else flaring up in his sharp features. Her opponent thrust forth his giant claw, only to be met by Eleni's spear. Already Eleni was tiring, the wound she had sustained earlier burning, staining her chest with fresh, crimson.

__ _' If I am to die, I shall fight to the last breath'_

With feline grace Eleni dropped to the floor and rolled her small body between his six legs, using her spear to slice open the soft tissue beneath as she bolted up behind him. A spray of inky blood coated her already mud stained mien, the foul liquid tasting rancid on her tongue. The Scorpion King bellowed with rage, his claws meeting Sekmet's bloodied length as she attempted to keep him at bay.

Aching and fatigued, the Lioness failed to notice the beasts tail whip forth and strike Eleni in the back, its poisonous tip spearing her through.

She choked on the metallic flavour that filled her mouth and dribbled down her chin. The creature that towered above her broken body began to blur as hot pain engulfed her. Her legs buckled and she fell in a pile on the floor. The girl pressed her palms against the mangled flesh, she once heard you were supposed to stop bleeding by putting pressure on wounds. But oh, there is so much blood--warm and dark ruby, pooling around her like velvet silk.

As the life fluid drained out of her, her skin took on the pallor of a corpse. Her pale lips opened to invoke a name, a mans name that tasted sweet.

_ Arwin... _

Yet no sound was released. Eyes filled with tears and heart with burning rage, Eleni's consciousness fell into death's deep abyss.

.

.

.

_ She stood alone in the fiery night, bright colours dancing, tattooing then changing before her eyes. She observed, each time he watched the flames leap and hiss, always reaching feverishly out for her, trying desperately to grab and hold onto her fleeting shadow. And oh, how beautifully they swayed, beckoning her, enticing her, and each time she looked away. _

__ _ But this time she took a step, and reached out with her tanned hand and let it be immersed under the raging flames. He let the blazing lips kiss her hands and pull her further into the everlasting fire _

Moments later, her body disintegrates into a flurry of ashes that fall like fresh snow upon the onyx stone floor.

As if by magic, the ashes that fluttered through the air ignite and hungry devour one another in flame. They leapt and danced as they consumed, radiantly beautiful in their destruction. Fresh embers jumped and spread ever higher until the moth-eaten tapestries, throne and even smoldering rock was engulfed in a blazing, explosive inferno.

The ashes upon the floor burn the brightest and ooze into one another, creating a pool of molten lava. The top ruffled and where it cracked the red showed through, threatening and hellish. A small hand punches through to the surface of the lava, followed by a second. Fingers clawed for purchase at the solid, inky stone as a woman hauled her naked form from the scorching lava. Her entire body ached, the skin tender and pink as if she is but a newborn. She cries out as at last her legs are free, though weak as a young fouls. Eleni drags herself across the boiling stone, a tangle of scarlet locks tumbling over her shoulders and framing wide, honey hued eyes.

The hot air filled her lungs, baking out the moisture, making breathing painful as she coughed violently. The flames wreathed around her as she attempted to stand, only to fall upon her knees.

Though her eyesight is blurred, she could no longer see the looming shape of her killer. It would seem that he had fled, but would no doubt return to collect on his deal in the near future. He would not have harmed her so if he was unaware of this other ability she has seemingly inherited from her thrice cursed father.

Steeling herself, she lifted herself once more from the floor. Though wobbly at first, she managed to remain upright. Out of the corner of her eyes, a golden rod gleamed in the firelight. Eleni slowly retrieved Sekhmet before making her way out of the burning fortress.

Dawn sent shimmering rays over the blackened wasteland, the valley no longer forever plunged in abyssal shadow. Eleni blinked toward the sun that brought her a day she never thought she'd see, yet was glad to. She let the moment sink in, soothe her from her core right to where the nascent rays touched her tanned flesh. Her story has only just begun, and many roads lay in wait for her to trek. For now however, Eleni knew that it was time to go home.


End file.
